A Star is Born
by PixelByPixel
Summary: Lucifer and Chloe name their newborn daughter with a little help from Trixie. This is a direct sequel to Family Mangrove, though I believe that it also stands on its own.


Chloe opened her eyes. Some of the day's exhaustion had faded; the general dimness and muted clamor of the hospital suggested that the late hour, but she found that the sleep had helped and she wasn't as tired as she would have expected. Trixie, fast asleep in the chair at her side, had categorically refused to leave; the bassinet on her other side was empty, the sheet a little wrinkled from its occupant. She looked over to the window and there they were, one dark head bent solicitously over a much smaller one.

She wondered what it said about her that she felt a certain pleasure in the fact that the hair on the larger head was somewhat in disarray, but that for once he didn't seem to care.

Well, no. There were other times he didn't mind messy hair, but she wasn't entirely prepared to think too hard about those times, not just yet. Not when the result of one of those times was still so new to the world, when the memory of her arrival was still fresh.

His voice rose and fell as he spoke to the baby, and she realized that this was the sound that had roused her from sleep. Despite his soft, gentle tones, he used his usual vocabulary; no baby-talk from Lucifer.

"... you can't see them because of the lights and the pollution and the buildings, but I promise you they're out there. One day when you're a little bigger, I'll take you somewhere you can see them properly, but I wanted you to meet them first thing. Even though you can't see them, they're always up there, watching out for you."

"Lucifer?"

He turned, one hand lifting to protect his daughter's head in an instinctive gesture that she guessed would have surprised him if he'd realized he was doing it, as terrified as he'd been to hold her that first time. ("The Devil isn't afraid of babies," he'd said, before admitting, "I just didn't think she'd be so small.") She'd seen, though, how he'd run a careful hand along their daughter's back, his flash of relief at what he'd felt there.

"You're awake." Lucifer's smile lit his face - Lightbringer, indeed - and he stepped closer. "We were just getting acquainted. You've had her to yourself all this time."

Chloe slid over, patting the bed, and Lucifer eased in next to her. She nestled in against him, and together they studied the sleeping newborn.

"She'll need a name," Chloe suggested gently. Trixie and Maze had been amusing themselves with names for the past month, each suggestion worse than the last, but Lucifer had refused to discuss it until the baby's arrival. Now, seeing his expression of discomfort, she asked, "What is it?"

Lucifer hesitated for a moment and glanced at Trixie, who was still fast asleep, then back to the baby. He asked, sounding honestly troubled, "Does her name have to shorten to a hooker name?"

Chloe stared at him for a moment in honest shock, then dissolved into laughter, letting her head fall onto his shoulder. She was quiet, having already gone into Don't Wake the Baby mode, but it took her nearly a full minute to regain her composure. "Why would we need to do that?"

Not looking particularly amused, Lucifer explained, "Only I don't want Beatrice to feel left out," and for a moment Chloe couldn't breathe, so overwhelmed was she by the love she felt for her husband. Concerned, he added, "Wait, I didn't mean to make you cry. Here, hold the baby. That'll make you feel better."

Chloe couldn't deny that, and swiped at her eyes before reaching for her daughter.

"Greedy," Lucifer chided gently, though his eyes were still worried.

Chloe got the baby settled, then looked up at Lucifer, her eyes still brimming. "You're amazing," she whispered, reaching to trail a hand along his cheek.

He blinked. "You did all the work," he replied softly, leaning in closer to brush his lips against her temple. "I just -" Another feather-light touch of his lips, this one on her cheek. "- did the fun part." That last was murmured against her lips, the precursor to a kiss that suggested that, really, he would be amenable to further hair-mussing at some point in the not-too-distant future.

"You're impossible," Chloe replied, laughing into the curve of his neck.

"No, I assure you, it's quite possible," Lucifer said brightly. "The offspring are sleeping, the door's closed, we could..." He subsided at the elbow to his ribs, but his smile suggested that he was, in fact, kidding about getting it on in the hospital room mere hours after she'd given birth. Mostly.

Settling against him once more, Chloe said, "I wasn't talking about the baby, though, when I said you were amazing - or about _that_ ," she added, as, smiling smugly, he took a breath to elaborate the ways in which he could amaze. She couldn't exactly argue that point, though.

Lucifer curled an arm around Chloe. "Well, my prowess in that regard is a well-established fact," he murmured, the low thrum of his voice a pleasantly distracting vibration under her cheek. "So what did you mean?"

"That you're concerned about Trixie right now - that you want her to feel included." Chloe inhaled another quivering breath, firmly telling herself to get a handle on her emotions. Still, she smiled up at Lucifer through threatened tears, marveling at how far he'd come from the man - Devil - who had thrown a toy and expected her daughter to fetch it.

Suddenly she felt a little less anxious about how Lucifer would be as a father to an infant - though of course he'd changed into his second-least-favorite suit before they'd left for the hospital, so he wasn't entirely reformed. She'd asked why he didn't wear his least-favorite suit, and he'd looked at her like she'd grown a second head, informing her, "I can't meet my daughter in my least-favorite suit." She decided not to mention how little difference she saw between the suits, or her amusement at his hierarchical organization if his apparel.

Of course, now Lucifer just looked confused, oblivious as he was to Chloe's musings about his emotional growth. "Of course I'm concerned for Beatrice. But... about the hooker name...?"

"No, Lucifer," Chloe reassured, reaching to pull him closer. "Beatrice was Dan's mother's name," she explained. "That's how we chose it. And Trixie's name doesn't have to match her sister's. She really won't mind."

"That explains a lot about Daniel," Lucifer quipped, before saying firmly, "Well, we're not naming this one after _my_ mother. That's not required, is it?"

Chloe shook her head. "We can name her whatever we want - and we're not naming her after my mother, either. Though if it's a hooker name you want," she added, amused, "There's always Candy."

"Exotic dancer," Lucifer corrected automatically. "And she wasn't, really, you know that. But somehow I don't think the world could take another Candy Morningstar."

"No," Chloe agreed, chuckling softly. "Do you have any suggestions?"

"Well." Lucifer ran the tip of one finger lightly along the back of the baby's hand. "Actually, yes." Chloe nodded, with an encouraging smile, and Lucifer offered tentatively, "How about Grace? Not that I think that she's got much of my side of the family in her," he hastened to add. "It's early to tell, but I hope not; I wouldn't wish that on her." He seemed to be struggling for words, and Chloe reached up to cup his cheek, his stubble prickling her skin. He smiled, turning into the gesture and kissing her palm. "It's just," he said, so quietly that Chloe had to strain to hear, "Any grace I have in this world - that I may ever have - comes from you and Beatrice, and now from her." He nodded down at the slumbering infant. "It's all right if you don't like it, but -"

"No," Chloe interrupted, her voice thick with emotion. "No, it's perfect. We have to call her that. Grace," she repeated, trying the name on for size. "Grace Morningstar."

Lucifer repeated softly, "Grace Morningstar." He smiled down on his daughter. "Welcome to the world."

Chloe cradled her daughter a little closer and pressed her lips gently to the small head. She lifted her gaze to her husband and said softly, "Best night of my life." She looked over to Trixie, then amended, with a smile, "Maybe a tie."

Trixie, as if realizing that she was the object of scrutiny, stretched a little and then opened her eyes. Seeing everyone else in the bed, she hesitated. Chloe gestured her over, and she curled against her mother's other side, tween prickliness blunted by her drowsy state and the wonder that was a new baby sister.

"She's still sleeping," Trixie mumbled. "Does she even have eyes?"

Chloe chuckled softly as she felt Lucifer's sudden tension, and he said, "I didn't think to check for eyes. I thought it was just fingers and toes that I was meant to count."

"I was kidding, Lucifer," Trixie replied, though she sounded sleepy, rather than scornful. "If she didn't have eyes, the doctors would be freaking out right now. You've got eyes, right, baby?" As if in answer, Grace opened her eyes, just for a moment, to blink hazily at her sister. Trixie beamed, and Lucifer settled back against the pillow once more.

Stifling a yawn, Trixie asked, "Does she have a name yet? Now that she's here, Princess Sparklepants doesn't really seem to fit, and I know you guys said no to Adrienne, whether she has Lucifer's eyes or not, and whatever the girl-version of Damien is."

"I still can't believe you and Maze watched Rosemary's Baby for ideas," Lucifer said, his tone mostly amused but still holding an edge of complaint. "You know I'm not like that. And as for The Omen," he added, with a nod to the baby, "She's definitely not the Antichrist."

"I know," Trixie agreed. "Maze got annoyed while we were watching Rosemary's Baby." To her mother, she added, "That was what happened with all the popcorn on the floor that one day," and Chloe nodded, looking amused.

Lucifer sounded a little mollified. "Good."

"We were thinking Grace, for her name," Chloe offered, and Trixie sat up a little to consider her sister.

"Grace," Trixie said thoughtfully, leaning closer to the baby. "Hi, Grace. Hey, Gracie." She nodded, smiling a little. "She looks like a Grace."

Lucifer agreed softly, "She does."

Trixie grinned suddenly, looking more awake. "Grace Princess Sparklepants Morningstar," she urged. "C'mon, it's perfect!"

Her mother smiled. "No. And not Grace Adrienne, either, but I'm willing to listen to other suggestions."

Sitting fully upright, Trixie extended her hands. "Can I hold her?"

Chloe nodded and eased the baby into her sister's arms, smiling at the sight. "She looks like you."

Trixie didn't say anything for a long moment, her head bent low over her sister's. "It's all going to feel normal for her," she said finally. "Lucifer and Maze and angels and... everything. She's never going to not know. It's okay, Gracie," she added, addressing the baby. "Your family is deeply weird, but we love you."

Lucifer fumbled in his pocket for his phone. "Look," he said, gesturing to Grace's hands, which had looped themselves around one of Trixie's. "She's holding your hand." Trixie looked up with a brilliant smile, and Lucifer snapped a picture with his phone. He extended his phone to show Chloe, and she looked and smiled, despite the fact that her daughters - _daughters_ \- were still right there, being adorable in person.

"I learned a new word in Spanish class last week," Trixie announced, gently rocking the baby.

Lucifer and Chloe looked at each other in puzzlement, confused by the apparent non-sequitur. "Hopefully more than one," Lucifer quipped.

Trixie rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah. But I though this one might work for Gracie, maybe for her middle name - and it's not any of the ones you taught me," she added to Lucifer, her eyes glinting with mischief.

"Well, I should hope not," Lucifer murmured, before catching Chloe's exasperated look. "Just trying to keep her interested in her studies, darling," he said, all innocence.

"Sure you are," Chloe replied, with a sigh. "If her Spanish teacher calls, _you're_ dealing with him." Ignoring Lucifer's dismayed expression, she asked Trixie, "What word were you thinking of, Monkey?"

Trixie flicked a quick glance to Lucifer before replying, "Estrella." Her lips curved a little at Lucifer's soft _oh_ of recognition, and she added to her mother, "It means star. I mean, Lucifer made the stars, and you guys made Gracie - seriously, do _not_ give me any details; it's bad enough how you're always all over each other - so I thought, maybe... oh. Gracie Morningstar. Grace E. Morningstar. That works, too."

"Well, I like it," Chloe said, and Lucifer smiled, murmuring an agreement.

"Great." Trixie offered the baby to Lucifer, though it was her mother that she asked, "Can I have some money for the snack machine?" She had learned by now not to ask her stepfather for anything requiring small bills, but that he was a soft touch for anything else, assuming that he didn't think to ask her mother.

Lucifer looked a little flustered, but gathered Grace into his arms, still looking worried that he would break her.

Chloe replied to Trixie, "Look in my bag, baby. I should have something." She's caught Trixie's eye and tipped her head toward Lucifer; Trixie nodded and Chloe smiled in response, certain that Trixie would also bring back Cool Ranch Puffs. After a moment of rooting in the bag, Trixie emerged, triumphant. "Don't forget the change," Chloe cautioned.

"I wouldn't _forget_ ," Trixie retorted with a grin, though they both knew it was a reminder that the change make its way back to Chloe, rather than into Trixie's pocket. "Back soon."

Nestling back against Lucifer as Trixie eased the door closed, Chloe asked, "Were you showing her the stars, when I woke up earlier?"

"Well. Yes." His expression a little sheepish, Lucifer added, "Not that we could see them, but I thought people might object if I took her up to the roof."

"Probably," Chloe agreed. "And you still probably wouldn't see a lot. We can take her somewhere she can see them when we get home, and when she's more likely to be awake."

"I'd like that," Lucifer replied, with a smile. Watching the sleeping infant, he said softly, "I didn't think it would matter." Looking up to see Chloe's puzzlement, he added, "She's blood-kin. Not that my family of choice is any less important, but it still matters, just a bit. She's a part of me; she's _us_. And dear old Dad can't turn her against me, as he has my brothers and sisters - well, barring Amenadiel."

Small Grace took that moment to yawn, and both parents had to stop and smile and comment on her beauty, her cuteness, and her overall perfection, though Lucifer quipped, "Standards really are quite low when they're this small, aren't they? She yawns, and we lose our minds." He paused, then added, more quietly, "All she has to do is exist, really, and I feel as if I'd move Heaven and Earth for her."

Curling a little closer to him, Chloe said, "That's how you're supposed to feel."

Lucifer smiled. "And I know that she'll never reject me, like the rest of my family - what?"

For Chloe couldn't keep back a smile at his words. "Haven't you been paying attention to all the drama in our house lately?"

"Well, there has been a bit more shouting than usual," Lucifer agreed, though he still looked puzzled.

Chloe leaned in to kiss his cheek. "A little parental rejection is normal for a kid," she explained. "They're figuring out who they are. Parents are supposed to provide a safe place for kids to push back." Seeing Lucifer's dismay, she chuckled softly. "There's plenty of time for her to adore you before the pushback starts, and one of the reasons she'll be able to push is that she won't have any doubt how much we love her."

"No," Lucifer agreed, cradling his daughter just a little closer. "She won't." He was silent for a moment then said, "I guess dear old Dad didn't get the memo about pushback being a usual sort of thing. But if all that hadn't happened, I wouldn't be here." He hesitated, then added, with a nod to the baby, "She wouldn't be here. I... I'm not sure what to think of that."

Chloe took a moment to consider her answer. "You can be glad of the result," she said slowly, "while still recognizing that what your father did to you was cruel." She hesitated, then spelled it out a little more clearly. "You can be grateful for her without being grateful to him."

Lucifer nodded, his dark gaze intent on his daughter. "Nonetheless," he said quietly. "I find that I am... not so angry with him as I once was."

There had been other times, Lucifer reflected, when he had almost felt it. That afternoon on the beach when Chloe had said _I do_. The first time that Trixie had flung herself at him and he'd found himself welcoming her embrace. These women in his life had changed him, and he couldn't find it in himself to mind. The end still didn't justify his Fall, not by a long shot, but he'd somehow found that his undercurrent of rage at his father, always present, had faded just a little.

Seeing Chloe's shocked expression, Lucifer smiled wryly. "Don't worry, my love. I'm sure it's a twenty-four hour thing, no doubt brought on by lack of sleep. It will pass."

"And if it doesn't, that's okay, too," Chloe reassured.

Lucifer eased an arm around his wife and pulled her close, smiling at the sight of her blond head next to Grace's dark one. "Just now, everything is perfect," he agreed.

High overhead, the clouds dispersed and the stars shone bright.

* * *

 **Author's note: If you haven't already seen it, please check out Lesley-Ann Brandt's or Scarlett Estevez's Instagram for an adorable picture of Scarlett with Lesley-Ann's sweet baby, which partly inspired this.**


End file.
